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Chapter 62: Friendly Fire
“You must be joking, right?”
Leon pulled his hand out of his pocket and stared at the woman in front of him. She was slouching casually, her head tilted with an air of indifference, not even bothering to glance at him. His mood soured instantly as he furrowed his brow and protested.
“Sure, the portions today were decent, but it is still just a spoonful of coffee powder, some bread, and a slice of ham. Let's be real. Even if we break it down generously, the cost couldn’t possibly exceed two copper coins. Charging this much is just highway robbery.”
“What did you say?”
The scarf-wearing woman blinked in surprise, then whipped her head around, her face darkening as she shot back, “You’re telling me all this is only worth two copper coins?”
Damn it. Preparing this surveillance spot across the street had cost four gold coins from the field ops team. Just the ingredients alone accounted for two gold coins’ worth of expenses. These bastards really have no shame.
“…”
Wait… You’re actually getting mad first? Is this how unreasonable Old Char’s daughter is?
Being taken for a fool and ripped off first thing in the morning, Leon felt a surge of irritation rise within him as he looked at the scowling woman. Matching her glare, he retorted, “Of course it’s not worth that much. I’ve eaten here multiple times—I’m practically a regular customer by now. Do you think I don’t know what these things usually cost?”
“Regular customer?” The woman raised an eyebrow. “What regular customer? I just opened for business today.”
“…”
Huh? Today’s your first day? So you’re not Old Char’s daughter?
Realizing he’d mistaken one stall for another, Leon deflated slightly. But still, the outrageous price tag of one silver coin gnawed at him, and he couldn’t help but argue further. “Even if you’re not the same vendor, selling this stuff for a silver coin is absurd.”
“Hmm.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone peeking out of a window in the building across the street. Worried about drawing attention, she quickly ducked into her tent, pretending to attend to customers while absentmindedly responding, “Well then, how much do you think is fair? Name your price.”
“…”
Wait, what? You’re just letting me set the price? Is running a business really this casual for you?
Stunned by her bizarre negotiation tactics, Leon hesitated before cautiously replying, “If we’re talking prices… At other stalls, they charge two copper coins for this kind of meal. But I’ll admit, you give generous portions, and your fire burns hot…”
“Then I’ll charge two copper coins too.”
“…”
After a few seconds of silence, during which Leon didn’t respond, the woman snapped her gaze back to him, clearly growing impatient. “Still too expensive? Fine, then—”
“No, no, that’s fine…”
Leon was utterly speechless when it came to her approach to doing business.
Raising a hand to stop her mid-sentence, he plopped back onto his seat and began eating his breakfast without enthusiasm. This whole situation felt surreal—like a joke. And why did she keep glancing over at the building across the street instead of looking people in the eye?
Come to think of it… Could she be some sort of private investigator tailing a cheating spouse? Or maybe a lookout for criminals? Perhaps even a secret police officer on surveillance duty?
While such coincidences were rare, the more Leon thought about it, the stranger this scarf-clad woman seemed. For one, she didn’t strike him as the type to run a coffee stand.
“Sir.”
Her sharp eyes caught Leon staring and detected a flicker of suspicion in his gaze. With a slight narrowing of her almond-shaped eyes, she fixed him with a piercing stare that radiated authority.
“You’ve been watching me. Is there something else you need?”
“Uh… No, nothing…”
Feeling unnerved under her intense glare—and realizing it was rude to stare anyway—Leon mumbled awkwardly and turned away. He chewed on his bread half-heartedly while idly scanning the street.
Logically speaking, if she really was conducting surveillance, she was likely either waiting for someone to pass by or observing the building across the street. If memory served, that building used to house apartments for employees of a now-defunct lacquer factory. After the factory went bankrupt, the lower four floors were converted into rental units. Due to its inconvenient location and noisy surroundings, however, the place never attracted many tenants, leaving most of the units on the first and second floors vacant.
If she truly was surveilling someone, considering the obstructed view from below, her target would probably reside on the third or fourth floor—or higher. Given her frequent glances toward the second floor, her target was likely there…
Wait a minute. Why is that second-floor window open? And…
“Sir.”
A cold voice cut through the air as a pair of long, toned legs stepped into Leon’s line of sight, completely blocking his view of the opposite building. His eyes traveled upward, past her slender waist and fuller curves, until they met her icy, steely gaze.
“What exactly are you looking at?”
Having effectively blocked his view of the target residence, she studied him intently. This man had started with verbal probing, repeatedly sizing her up, and kept glancing toward the target location. Her voice hardened further as she demanded, “Or should I ask—who exactly are you?”
“…”
Oh boy. So you really are tailing someone.
Caught red-handed and now openly suspicious of him, Leon frowned. When she glared, her entire demeanor sharpened like a blade. She wasn’t the type to chase down cheating spouses or act as a petty lookout. No, she reeked of experience—someone who had seen bloodshed.
In the capital city, anyone exuding such an aura while conducting surveillance could only belong to one of three groups: special forces from the military, secret police from the Police Department, or rebels planning an attack. And each group was more trouble than the last.
Just as Leon debated whether to pull out his Cleansing Bureau credentials and gamble on her being a “friendly” operative rather than a rebel, a thunderous shout echoed from the building across the street.
“Where is the target?!”
Leon looked up to see a scar-faced brute leaning out of a second-floor window, veins bulging on his forehead as he roared furiously, “Where did they go?! Isha…. Is this how you call yourself keeping watch?!”
…..
“I know it sounds unbelievable, but I swear I just wanted to buy a cup of coffee…”
Handcuffed to a chair in the interrogation room of the Police Department, Leon glanced at the several stern-looking secret police officers glaring at him. He sighed and gestured toward the scarf-wearing woman with a tilt of his chin.
“It’s not like I intentionally provoked her. I ordered a simple coffee and two slices of bread, and she demanded a full silver coin! That’s enough to buy half a ham, for crying out loud! My money doesn’t grow on trees—it’s earned through hard work. Wouldn’t any of you argue if you encountered such ridiculous pricing first thing in the morning?”
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